S. Korea succeeds in first live-fire test of Taurus cruise missile

South Korea claimed to have successfully staged the first live-fire exercise for Taurus, an air-launched cruise missile that enables jet fighters to make a precise and powerful attack on North Korea's underground missile and nuclear facilities.

Taurus incorporates stealth characteristics and has a range of more than 500 kilometers (310 miles). South Korea has agreed to bring in the Taurus KEPD 350K, an enhanced version of the Taurus KEPD 350 fielded by Germany and Spain.

According to Jane's 360, the Taurus KEPD 350 was designed for use against hardened and buried targets with its penetrator warhead and intelligent fuzing system. Once launched, it flies at extremely low altitudes at the speed of up to Mach 0.9. The Taurus KEPD 350 measures 5.1 meters in length and weighs in at 1,400 km

Dozens of Taurus missiles mounted with military GPS receivers were brought into South Korea in October last year.

An F-15K jet fighter was mobilized for Tuesday's drill to test-fire a Taurus missile which precisely hit a designated target off the southwestern port city of Gunsan, military authorities said. Programmed to avoid obstacles in the air, it made a circular low-altitude flight and surged up to an altitude of 3,000 km before dive bombing, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Initially, South Korea agreed to deploy 170 Taurus missiles, but it would buy more in response to North Korea's strong push for missile and nuclear development. Imports of advanced European missiles were made possible after Washington approved exports of critical military GPS receivers which can help South Korean war planes evade North Korean GPS jamming.